Saturday, August 6, 2011

Some of you have been very complementary on my extended three-part review of Burda's kimono pattern and I must admit, it gave me a big excuse to avoid what is my least favorite part of being a novelist—line editing for a new edition of my comic novel, A Visit From Voltaire. We're getting ready in the autumn for an e-book release with an updated Afterword.

But a three-part review is nothing to what The Slapdash Sewist (click here) has done with the Burda 105 drapey top from the July issue, including a fabulous brief video tutorial that makes my French instructions suddenly brilliantly clear! Do check it out!

I have a length of turquoise chiffon from India, a gift from my eldest, and now I'm wondering if this is the style....thank you Slapdash!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I'm busy editing my comic novel A Visit From Voltaire for e-book release which is really exciting for me, but a lot of work on a short deadline. So this will be short and sweet. Once again Burda has been watching too many reruns of The Sound of Music. Somewhere, no doubt, there is a Julie Andrews fan club with members who need fresh costumes to replace their old ones, so they can sew this:

But I want to reassure the rest of the world that I live in Switzerland and nobody, and I mean even on national day, August 1, nobody is wearing an outfit like this. My musician son, who spent six months in Vienna to learn German and upgrade his violin playing, reports that nobody was wearing an outfit like this, and we just have to conclude that Burda loves women attending beer festivals in Bavaria so much, they devote one section a year to those hardy gals.

But seriously? This is supposed to be a magazine devoted to the latest in style, not the oldest. Please Burda, spare us the hokey gemütlich kitsch.

Meanwhile, in an issue that looks somber and even downbeat, I found one dress, definitely a "young" look for slim sewists, I like from the preview:

And this one, which is just right, I think, for Cruella DeVille's daughter by The Count. I mean, that neckline is scary and so is her pose. What would you think if you entered a room and saw that girl twisting hungrily your way? I'd run...!

The Shadows of Shigatse in all formats

Under Their Skin

A Little Backstory

I love to sew. I started at age 13 when my legs were four inches too long for McCall's trousers. Fifty years later, I'm still at it, but don't actually need any more clothes.
You'll know more than you should about me by picking up a copy of my comic novel, "A Visit From Voltaire," nominated for the Orange/Bailey's Prize for Fiction in 2004.
If you prefer thrillers and mysteries, check out the trilogy "The Handover Mysteries" by clicking on the images in above. Everything's available in bookstores or Amazon, iBookstore, Sony, Kobo and B&N worldwide.
Happy Sewing and happy reading!